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And what about prevention?

The American Cancer Society reported this week that the number of Americans with a history of cancer will rise by a third over the next decade, hitting some 18 million by 2022.

What is the definition of a cancer survivor? According to a recent article in Medical News Today (see link below), a cancer survivor is "anyone still alive after being diagnosed with cancer." So in order to have more cancer survivors, there must be more people diagnosed with cancer in the first place.

And although the article reported that cancer cases are generally on the decline, it certainly can't be by very much. Consider this statistic from the article:

Nearly half of all Americans over 70 are cancer survivors, while this number drops to only 5% for those under 40.

But what about preventing cancer? It often takes decades of growth before cancer can even be detected. Given the right conditions; cancers, like heart disease, can start very early in life. But unlike heart disease, which is almost totally reversible in most older patients, cancer is a different story. Which is why we should be thinking about everything we can do to prevent cancer---beginning when we are children, or babies.

So how do you prevent cancer? Although we frequently hear senior health officials state that up to 80% of our chronic diseases are preventable, you almost never hear any clear instructions about how one goes about doing that. On the other hand, Dr. T. Colin Campbell says that our toxic western diet is the single biggest cause of cancer. That gives us a pretty good clue about how we might prevent cancer in the first place.

But you won't hear a simple dietary message from the American Cancer Society or any other part of our healthcare system. As I have stated many times on this blog, every corner of our vast "medical system" favors confusion over clarity when it comes to promoting health and preventing chronic diseases. Visits to all of the big "disease-specific" websites will reveal the same voluminous, but painfully unclear, information that leaves the reader totally confused.Please click here to continue reading this blog...

Blogging daily at hpjmh.com...from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.